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2 Minute EBP Challenge

Monday, February 13, 2012
Treatment of "Wake Up" Stroke
In up to 25% of patients with stroke the onset time is unknown. If the patient woke up with ischemic stroke symptoms, what would be the most appropriate treatment?

Monday, February 06, 2012
Compression Stockings and VTE
Which of the following statements about compression elastic stockings for prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is true?

Monday, January 30, 2012
Scrub the Hub
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that central venous catheter (CVC) hubs be scrubbed for how long?

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  • Get tips, timesavers, and more from
    David W. Woodruff, MSN, RN-BC, CNS, CMSRN, CEN

    Home > 2 Minute EBP Challenge > Complications of Isolation

    Complications of Isolation

    Monday, December 19, 2011
    2 Minute EBP CHallenge

    Stay up-to-date the easy way!

    How would you answer this question?

    Which of the following is true for patients placed in isolation precautions?

    a.  More patients developed delirium.
    b.  Hospital stay was shorter.
    c.  The likelihood of transfer to ICU decreased.
    d.  Mortality was lower.

    The correct answer is "a" more patients developed delirium.

    See the Video Response on YouTube.

    Isolation precautions are used to protect patients and caregivers from spreading infection.  Isolation  involves the use of gloves, masks, gowns, and other protective equipment.  Nurses, physicians, and other healthcare providers are required to don protective equipment whenever encountering patients who have isolation precautions.  As a result, healthcare workers do not enter the patient room or assess the patient as frequently when they are in isolation.  Lack of contact from healthcare workers leads to increased complications.

    A recent study found that isolation caused delirium, longer hospital stay, higher mortality, and greater likelihood of transfer to ICU.  Delirium is an acute metabolic condition and the cause must be investigated.  Dementia is a chronic condition of mental status change caused by chronic debilitating disease such as Alzheimer's disease.  Isolation decreases contact with healthcare workers, and early detection of problems, resulting in an acute metabolic problem and delirium.

    If you know that healthcare workers are less likely to visit patients in isolation, you can make it a point to be more vigilant and to be more available to your isolated patient to prevent complications.

    From: Day, H.R., et al. (2012). Association between contact precautions and delirium at a tertiary care center. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol, doi: 10.1086/663340.

    Congratulations to Maggie Monahan who won an autographed copy of my 101 Tips to Improve Your Nursing Care book for answering this week's question correctly.  Congratulations Maggie!   

    Get free Nursing Tips by texting NursingTips to 86677. 

    Best wishes,
    David W. Woodruff, MSN, RN-BC, CNS, CMSRN, CEN
    President,     Ed4Nurses, Inc.

    (c) 2011 Ed4Nurses, Inc.  Feel free to print this e-mail and share it with your colleagues. Other forms of digital or print reproduction are prohibited without prior written consent from Ed4Nurses, Inc.
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